The biggest stars in tonight’s gubernatorial forum in Glendale were not the three candidates but two former Colorado governors: Republican Bill Owens and Democrat Dick Lamm.

Lamm opened with putting the voters’ job into perspective.

“Electing a new governor is a lot like eating mushrooms from your backyard: you don’t know what you’ve done until you’ve done it,” he said.

Experts on running state government, the bi-partisan duo questioned – and often challenged – the candidates on how they plan to deal with Colorado’s budgetary shortfalls.

When Republican Dan Maes said he wanted to save money by not using VMS signs on the highways, Owens retorted: “To be honest, Dan, that has nothing to do with the structural deficit of the state.”

When Democrat John Hickenlooper was asked whether some state regulations were excessive, he skirted the question, instead discussing the philosophy of balancing risks and rewards. Lamm shot back that he was looking for actual examples, forcing the Denver mayor to discuss the state’s oil and gas regulations.

Owens asked Tom Tancredo, the former GOP congressman turned third-party candidate, whether he had read the American Constitution Party’s platform and agreed with all of it.

“Do you believe everything in the Republican platform?” Tancredo retorted.

The airwaves these days seem to belong to gubernatorial and congressional candidates, so it almost seems like a treat to see someone running for the legislature airing a campaign commercial.

Rep. Sal Pace, a Pueblo Democrat, announced today he has an ad appearing on cable in his market. There’s an unwritten rule that any Pueblo candidate must mention water, and Pace meets that unfunded mandate.

Pace said he spent about $7,000 to make and air the ad and he was able to afford it because he lives in a medium-size market.

Gubernatorial hopeful Tom Tancredo today released a list of more than 30 conservative community activists who have endorsed the third-party candidate’s campaign as he continues gunning for GOP nominee and early Tea Party favorite Dan Maes.

The endorsement list includes a number of leaders from the Denver-based Hear Us Now! and members of various other Tea Party and 9.12 groups across the state. It also includes people identified simply as grassroots activists with no group affiliations noted.

“Colorado citizens need assurance that we are doing the best we can to support a solid and winning conservative candidate to represent us,” said Bob Marshall, secretary of Hear Us Now!, in a statement. “Based on polling trends and the direction that the governor’s race has taken over the course of the last several weeks, we firmly believe that candidate Tom Tancredo represents Colorado’s best choice in this race.”

Tancredo hasn’t enjoyed such smooth relations will all Tea Party and 9.12 groups, however.

State Treasurer Cary Kennedy is hoping her campaign can capitalize on her opponent’s personal wealth.

Kennedy, a Democrat seeking a second term in office, has repeatedly cited the fact that her Republican opponent, Walker Stapleton, has been using hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money to help fund his campaign for office. Now, Kennedy’s campaign says in an online fundraising appeal, she wants to “Bust the Bonus.”

“We’re calling this BUST THE BONUS because over the past four years Cary’s opponent has received almost $500,000 in corporate bonuses,” the appeal says. “He’s pouring that money into television ad buys in an attempt to buy this election.”

Another national poll over the weekend gave Ken Buck a substantial lead for the Colorado senate race, adding to a stream of boosts for the Republican’s campaign.

The McClatchy/Marist poll had Buck leading Sen. Michael Bennet 50 percent to 42 percent. The poll noted Republicans with leads in two other key Senate races, in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

According to Marist, the polls surveyed 822 registered voters in Colorado from Sept. 26 to 28, ending up with 537 likely voters. The margin of error for likely voters is 3.5 percent, according to the pollsters.

Former Congressman David Skaggs, D-Boulder, is among the organizers of an effort to bring some bipartisanship back to Washington. As reported in Politico, a letter signed by more than 130 former lawmakers notes its time to “focus on problem-solving.”

“Congress ‘appears gripped by zero-sum game partisanship,’ in which the goal often seems to be more to devastate the other side … than to find common ground to solve problems,” the letter reads.

A very intriguing look at the geographic distribution of medical marijuana cards in Sunday’s GAZETTE, notes that the counties with the highest per-capita registration numbers are home to ski resorts. The article goes on to note: “Where median income is highest, so is medical marijuana use. Same with college degrees. Same with voting for Barack Obama.”

Which gives us THE QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND:

“I would be wary to say it is totally people scamming the system. Perhaps because these communities where we see high numbers are more liberal and progressive, they are more open to new, alternative medicines. But I’m not sure that could account for all of it.” — John Harne,a geography professor at the University of Colorado.

Residents of Eagle County (home to Vail and Beaver Creek), meanwhile, will vote in November on a proposition that asks whether dispensaries should be allowed to operate in unincorporated areas. It’s one of several county and municipal areas with med-pot issues on the ballot this fall, including: El Paso, Mesa an Park counties and Aurora, DeBeque, Elizabeth, Fountain, Fraser, Granby, La Junta, Lone Tree, Loveland, Olathe, Paonia, Pueblo and Windsor.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.